KEYS DISEASE
MARATHON WEEKLY / MARCH 14, 2019
35
BEWARE: LEGISLATURE IN SESSION
And we still wonder why they call it Flori-Duh
T
he Florida Legislature is in session. Be afraid. Be very afraid. This body meets for a session of only 60 days, and for that, I’m thankful. I can just imagine the havoc they would wreak if they were a full-time legislature. During the past several years, the Florida Legislature has attempted full frontal assaults on home rule. Home rule is the concept of the best and most responsive government being the most local government. City councils and county commissions know their communities and constituencies much better than legislators from other parts of the state who meet for 60 days in the way-out-of-the-way capital city of Tallahassee. Sadly, moneyed interests with deep pockets and lots of lobbyists don’t want local communities to be able to make decisions in the best interests of their constituencies. They would rather that the state preempt local decision-making authority and make one-size-fits-all rules that favor the moneyed interests over people. What kind of interests? Telecommunications companies that don’t want to have to deal with all the different regulations that exist in each city and county. Large vacation rental brokerages that want legal unregulated vacation rentals everywhere in Florida. There are many interests that want the Legislature to eliminate any local control — and they are willing to spend big bucks in Tallahassee to make it happen. So far, we have been able to keep our local vacation rental regulations in place because they existed before bills that prevent local control that were passed several years ago. While existing ordinances are “grandfathered� — protected — local governments can’t go in and change them at all. And there is a bill up for consideration this session that would eliminate the grandfathered protection; this would result in overnight rentals legal everywhere in Florida with no local licensing, no occupancy restrictions and no local control. The real scary thing is that even though this bill may not pass this session, one year soon, one like it probably will.
We are lucky to have a state representative and a state senator who both have our collective backs in Tallahassee. Holly JOHN Raschein and Anitere Flores BARTUS have seniority is the mayor of and are memthe City of Marabers and chairs thon. He also is of important a musician who performs around committees. They are also town. For more both in their see johnbartus. com last terms because of term limits. As local county and city officials head up to Tallahassee next week for Florida Keys Day, all of us will be trying to have our voices heard by legislators who have no idea about the Keys, our very unique issues, and the reasons we were declared an Area of Critical State Concern — most of them don’t even know what that is. Education of legislators is an annual process; we are assisted in this effort by the Florida League of Cities. Their theme this year is We Live Local. It’s about local control of our communities because local governments respond best to local needs. They assist municipalities every year in our efforts to keep local control and fight the Legislature’s constant efforts to preempt local regulations. Please wish all of us luck as we go to Tallahassee and fight for home rule. ••••• Special thanks to everyone who made last weekend’s Original Marathon Seafood Festival a success. Thanks to the Organized Fishermen of Florida, Marathon Chapter, the Greater Marathon Chamber of Commerce, all the volunteers, entertainers, and our attendees for coming out and supporting a worthwhile cause. This year was the 43rd annual festival, and proceeds raised go to scholarships and efforts of both groups. This is Marathon’s largest event, and is the second largest event in the Keys, behind only Fantasy Fest. Personal thanks to my partner-in-music, Glenn Faast, for all his years working the stage with me, through two days of setup, two days of event, and a long teardown and pack-up at the end. Until next year‌
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